Feb 23, 2014

These Asian inspired meatballs are out of this world! Made with ground turkey, ginger, scallions, cilantro and sesame oil with a wonderful tangy sesame-lime dipping sauce. You can make them for dinner or serve them as an appetizer by making them half their size and setting out toothpicks for dipping into that delicious sauce.

I first posted these meatballs back in 2010 and the quickly became a fan favorite! Often I served them with brown rice or Asian "fried" brown rice, but lately I've been on a zoodle (zucchini noodle) kick and made them for dinner this week served over these zucchini noodles for a low-carb meal and they were fantastic!

In a large bowl combine the ground turkey, panko, egg, salt, scallions, ginger, cilantro, 1 tbsp of the soy sauce and 2 tsp sesame oil. Gently mix with your hands until combined well. Shape meatballs 1/4 cup in size and transfer to a baking sheet. Bake until cooked through and browned, about 15 to 18 minutes.

For the dipping sauce: mix the lime juice, water, soy sauce, and remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in a bowl. Add the scallions and set aside.

Transfer the meatballs to a serving dish. Stir the sauce, then drizzle the meatballs with a little of the sauce. Serve the meatballs with the remaining sauce on the side.

Makes 12 meatballs.

365 comments
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Oooh these look (and sound) so good, I might give them a try this week. I made your yummy taco chili at the weekend but forgot to take a pic of it, I used your pic on my blog and linked back to you to give credit. I hope that is ok, please let me know if it's not, and I will remove it.Thanks for sharing all your great recipes. Hope your new little one is doing well.Hugs Denise

Sure! Cook the brown rice. Scramble an egg with nonstick spray in a skillet and set aside. Add sesame oil and cooked rice to the skillet, chopped scallions, soy sauce and Asian fish Sauce if you have and saute a few minutes.

Hi Gina - I made this recipe tonight. Sooo good! Both my teenage son and husband loved it. Good thing that I put some aside for myself or else I might not have had a chance to taste them. Thanks for sharing!

I had friends over for dinner and made the meatballs with brown rice and broccoli. There wasn't a single crumb left over, everyone loved them!!! When I told everyone that it was weight watchers friendly not a single person believed me, especially the guys! Thanks for taking the time to post such wonderful recipes. Every time I try one, I love it!!!

Hey Gina,this recipe is amazing! they disappeared so quickly at my house, i couldnt beleive it :) i am going to try making turkey burgers with this recipe as well, i think it will be a nice twist!Thanks again for the amazing recipes.

I made these and they tasted great. My 3 year old even said "o-kawari!", which roughly means "more please!". Thanks for the great recipe. When my wife gets home from work, she's going to have them too.

A question. I see "panko" a lot in recipes. I was wondering if there's a difference between them and breadcrumbs? In Japan, "panko" means breadcrumbs. How long have we used it in English?

Gina, These meatballs were wonderful! We ate them with broccoli and enjoyed dipping that into the extra sauce too! One of the best recipes that we have tried from your site! Thanks for all the great recipes. We have been making one of your recipes each night for dinner for 2 months and both my husband and I have lost 30 lbs. doing so! Thanks!

These meatballs sound wonderful! I'm new to your site and I was wondering if when you call for 93% lean ground turkey, do you use turkey breast only or is a mix OK? Thank you for providing such an important service for those of us seeking to eat healthier!

I started back on WW this week and tried these tonight...they were so good!!! My husband even liked them and went back for seconds. Thanks for writing this blog, I am so glad I found it. I can't wait to try some more recipes. :-)

Made these Saturday night and we served them over a bed of sitr fried Napa cabbage with slices of onion and red bell pepper! Was wonderful. The only thing I would not do next time is the cilantro. I just don't like it - tastes soapy. Fortunately, the wonderful sauce cancelled out the icky cilantro taste.

WHOA!!!!!! I just made these today, i'm actually sitting eating them right now. SO YUMMY. Better than dining out for sure. I love your recipes thankyou so much. I've done ww for a long time and their food has always been lacking in flavour. Not this!! Good thing I made a double batch...making the second round tomorrow!

This recipe was amazing! I made it the other day for me and my husband and we both loved it. The dipping sauce tastes just like the sauce they serve you at your table at PF Changs.

Gina-I stumbled upon your website when searching for WW recipes and am so happy I did! I have made several of your recipes and I love how flavorful they all are! My husband is amazed they are healthy. Your photography is what initially drew me to your recipes, it is beautiful. You really should publish a recipe book.

Made these tonight with an asian salad on the side. YUMMY! I added a little grated lime zest to intensify the flavor and wowzers..SOOO good. I am definetly making these again. So dificult to find great turkey recipes. I wonder if these could be made into burgers on the stovetop-possible? We had asian chicken burgers at a resturant the other day and I wonder if they could be duplicated with turkey since ground chicken is so expensive.

I made these tonight (without cilantro) and they were soooo good! I did make the sauce, but wasn't a big fan, so I dipped them in ketchup :)! I'm making your pasta bolognese tomorrow night! Oh and your skinny parm. has become a weekly staple in my house! Thank you for helping me and my family eat healthier!

These were very good and very easy to make! Someone suggested using the sauce on the rice and that tasted really good too. The only substitute I made was coarse ground mustard for the ginger...I didn't have any on hand.

Oh, these were delicious. I served them with fried brown rice and steamed broccoli. Thank you for the low WW points recipes that are so unique and easy to make! I made the cilantro lime shrimp last night, and the Santa Fe Croc Pot Chicken is tomorrow's dinner. Way to go, Gina!

We made these for dinner last night. SO YUMMY! I had forgotten to add the garlic and ginger, but they still tasted super awesome. Also, I used key lime juice instead of regular lime juice (I picked up the wrong container at the grocery store!) so the dipping sauce had just a bit of sweetness to it. My hubby LOVED it! We will definitely make these again!!

I made this tonight and they turned out great even though I had to use regular seasoned breadcrumbs instead of panko crumbs (which I could have sworn I had on hand-grrr!). I really like the dipping sauce with them. Next time I'm going to make them smaller and serve them with soba noodles tossed with some of the dipping sauce and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds (1 tsp of s.seeds is 0pts!). Thanks for the great recipe, Gina!!

Love these! My 6 year old son thought I was trying to trick him b/c I said we were having meatballs and these didn't look like the meatballs I make with pasta! I served them over brown rice and added some egg whites and stirfry veggies to the rice. I can't wait to make these as an appetizer! Someone mentioned serving them with hot mustard and I think that is a great idea to have a variety of dipping sauces when served as an appetizer. YUMMY!

Hi Gina - I made this last night and it was delicious, but I want to offer a few comments/suggestions: 1) I found that the cilantro was way too heavy. I could have cut it back by half and it still would have been enough. 2) I think between the sesame seed oil in the meatballs AND the sauce, it was just WAY too much. My bf and I were both sick because it was just too oily (and we ate the correct portions - actually less!) I plan to make them again, using 1/2 of the cilantro and half of the sesame oil in the meatballs. Also, I found that the meatballs so flavorful, that I didn't even need the sauce. Depsite all that, it was a delicious recipe that will be in permanent rotation. :-)

This is the first recipe of yours I've tried, it was SO good! We had brown rice and green beans with it. Even my mom and brother loved it, and they are very picky! ;) Tonight I'm making the minestrone in the crock pot. Smells so good in here! Can't wait to try more of your recipes, so glad I found this site!

I never send comments but just had to say how easy and yummy these were to make! My kids really liked them (no easy feat with a 2 year old). I have copied down several of your recipes to try this week and can't wait to see how those turn out!

I give up printing your recipes, it's a waste of paper. When I use your button to print Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp, the recipe printed on page one and I had 7 more pages of just page 2 of 8 etc. Tried Asian Turkey Meatballs and got 15 pages wasted!

"Anonymous said... I give up printing your recipes, it's a waste of paper. When I use your button to print Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp, the recipe printed on page one and I had 7 more pages of just page 2 of 8 etc. Tried Asian Turkey Meatballs and got 15 pages"

I have the same problem, I love your recipes, how can I print your recipe without the pictures and wasted paper.

hi gina thank you so much for your wonderful recipes. i have made chicken and white bean enchiladas w/creamy salsa verde twice in the last 2 weeks and they are HEAVENLY. my hubby LOVES this recipe and that is saying alot as he can be a very picky eater but they are now his favorite enchilada recipe. i could not believe how easy the salsa verde was to make and i will never ever buy a canned sauce again. EVER!!

now i want to make your asian turkey meatballs this coming week and have a question re: the ginger..your recipe calls for 1tablespoon..is that correct and your instructions do not call for it but you do indeed include it? thanks so much for all of your hard work with this site..it is just beautiful and the recipes sound so yummy.. warm regards chris

I just finished preparing these Asian turkey meatballs. These are terrific! I have never tasted turkey meatballs that were so tasty and delicious. I am trying to find ways to eliminate beef from my diet and this is a good start! However, I am not too fond of the sauce. Is there another sauce you can recommend? I am going to try these out on my Soul of Cinema group!

We made these this evening. I thought they were delicous. My oven didn't go to 500, so I baked them at 425 and just kept an eye on them. I did the fried brown rice and instead of adding soy sauce, I just added the rest of the dipping sauce. I saw another post about adding sesame seeds to the sauce and I toasted those first. This will be on my fav's list for a long while.

I made these last night and I can't stop eating them! They are delicious! I like them without the dipping sauce. Next time I make them I think I will use less ginger, but ginger or not, they are amazing!

Gina, these are fantastic! Our whole family loved them. My husband is Chinese and we think these taste just like a dumpling filling. I was wondering what to do for Chinese New Year - now I know! Thank you so much!

This was absolutely delectable. The only thing I did differently was grate the ginger and garlic. My Family are ground beef eaters, but recently, we've been attempting to eat healthier. For us, ground turkey isn't an easy food to like, but in this dish the turkey was perfect. We didn't miss the beef at all! Its my new favorite recipe for ground turkey!

Aren't they good! I'm going to a Christmas party, I'm making these as an app, mini ones with dipping sauce and toothpicks. I'm also making mini Greek meatballs with Tzaziki and mini Italian Meatballs. Fun!!

Just wanted to let you know that I'm the cook for my family of nine, and everytime I make one of your recipies my family is overjoyed! We love them all... even the family members who don't follow the WW plan love your dishes! Thank you so much. I am making these for dinner - my family loves them. :-)

Made them exactly as written, served with leftover coconut rice and steamed broccoli, and they were just delicious. I had your roasted butternut squash with brown sugar for desert. Perfect Sunday dinner. Thanks, Gina!

Hannah I just checked my calculations, I knew there was too much dipping sauce (makes 9 tbsp) you only use 5 tbsp, so that extra tsp of oil was not counted. What I should really do is adjust the sauce ingredients.

Also, my turkey is calculated on cooked weight (15 oz) not raw and that seems to be 1 point different.

I've made these twice now, and been thrilled with the results both times.

The first time, I used the 93%-lean ground turkey. The second time, I used the 99%-lean ground turkey breast. With the 99%-lean meat, I encountered two main differences: the meatballs were a bit drier and they stuck to the baking pan. Next time, if I use the leaner meat, I will go ahead and spray the pan. As far as the dryness goes: it was a difference, but they were so delicious that I didn't mind it really.

These were so delicious. My fiance and I both loved them. We might make them as dumplings next time, for wonton soup or just with sauce. Or just make an asian soup stock with smaller meatballs. Or maybe make a meatloaf with this mixture. Anything as long as we can eat them again. Thanks!!

I made these tonight with ground chicken as I am not a huge turkey fan. The only difference I found was that I needed a touch more panko as chicken is a bit wetter. Still they were fantastic. I plan to use the same seasoning with salmon burgers this weekend.

Thank you for this recipe. Even though I made a lot of changes to it it was a great jumping off point that I needed for inspiration. Everyone loved the meatballs, I have saved this and plan on making them for Super Bowl.

Gina! I just want to start off by saying, I love your recipes! I have a little question for you... many of your recipes require the use of ground turkey, however, I am working abroad and ground turkey is just not found here in the Dominican Republic! Do you think I could substitute lean ground beef or ground chicken? Which would be the better option in your opinion?

Hi Gina. I put your stats in my Points Plus calculator and I came up with 6 PP. You didn't list fiber so I put 0 but was just curious how you got 7 PP. Also I was going to make the meatballs smaller than 1/4 cup size. Maybe half that size. Do you think they will still turn out okay doing that? Looks like a great dish and I plan to make it tonight!

These were absoulutely the best meatballs I have ever made. I played with the sauce a bit- I also thought it was a bit too sesame-oilish so I added 1 tbsp more soy sauce, some ginger, 1 tbsp sweet chili sauce, and a sprinkle of Truvia.

My daughter cleaned her plate and asked for more, which NEVER happens with protein. Ever. And my hubby, who usually hates ground turkey, loved these as well. I am going to make a double batch over the weekend and freeze them. I hope it works!

I second momtocarina! I made them on Monday night and my husband and I devoured them! They made excellent leftovers too for him to take to lunch. I actaully forgot the ginger though haha so ill have to add that next time, probably next week! Yum and thanks! I gave you a shout out on my blog...www.thebasilbee.blogspot.com

I have made these a number of times and they really are our favorite meatballs! I always make them much smaller (so you can have more) and in a double batch to bake and freeze. These freeze really well when they are precooked. I just make my dipping sauce fresh each time.

Thanks Gina - just found your site a few days ago. Yesterday we made these meatballs and today was your chili recipe. Both were hits with my family and I feel really good about serving healthy low-fat food. Looking forward to making more of your dishes!

I know this isn't very "skinny", but do you think it would work to use ground beef for these?? After reading everyone's comments, I am totally drooling!!! But, I don't have any ground turkey right now. Just good grass fed beef. What are your thoughts?

I have never commented on someone's recipe before, but I have to say....these were one of the best things I've ever recreated. I was not a fan of ground turkey the last time I cooked with it, but this has totally converted me. I'm drooling over some of your other recipes now!!

I made these the first time on 3/15/11 before this recipe, I hated ground turkey. I am making these meatballs for dinner tonight, for the third time in less than a month. Last time I made them, I doubled the recipe so I could put a batch in the freezer for an easy dinner. They didn't make it to the freezer! I have shared this recipe/website with many people and everyone LOVES it. Thank you for all you do.

Gina - love your site! My roommate and I stumbled onto it a little over a month ago and we have now made too many of your dishes to count. They are all simple, natural, and healthy! My favorite thing about this recipe is that the flavors all come together so that you're not just tasting one particular spice, but a beautiful blend of yummy that just explodes in your mouth! Thanks for making such great recipes so accessible!

Wow. This was incredible. My wife was blown away by how good it was. I replaced half of the 93/7 ground turkey with 99/1 and it was still really juicy. The ginger, scallions, and cilantro go together so well!

I've already made this recipe twice in the last couple of weeks because it's so yummy! These really have so much flavor and my husband and I both love the lime dipping sauce. Gina, I found your website through a friend and have been using your recipes nonstop since, especially since I'm trying to lose weight. So far, with my dieting, exercise, and preparing healthier dinners, I've lost 25 lbs. and am trying to lose 15 more. Thanks so much for the great recipes and including the nutritional info!

I just made these tonight for the first time and they were SO good! The sauce definitely makes this dish (although the meatballs were pretty amazing too)! I would definitely double the sauce the next time I make these. I forgot to add the sesame oil to the meatballs, but they were still really good - can't wait to see how good they are with the oil added. I served these with your brown fried rice, which I added a thawed package of frozen chopped broccoli to. The rice was a little soggy (a problem I usually run into when making rice), but still really good. I don't belong to WW, but your sight is my new go-to place to find new recipes because I know they'll be healthy, flavorful and easy to prepare. I haven't been disappointed yet! Thank you Gina!!

My 3 year old and I made these for dinner tonight with an asparagus and avocado salad. We both loved the meat balls and the dipping sauce and it was great fun shaping the meatballs together! Thanks. I just found your site and have passed it on to those I know will love it.

Oh My goodness.Did not have turkey so used lean beef instead.. then did not have brown rice so used my white instead.This was delicious.......Thank you thank you thank you.there are only 2 meatballs left and we are only 2....will have to make these again.Colette

these are absolutely addicting! my absolute favorite to make. i have all the pantry ingredients now (i had to purchase the sesame oil etc) but now I have enough to make these time and time again. i have class at night and many people tend to bring their dinners there and I opened up my container and EVERYONE raved about how yummy they smelled. :o) thanks Gina!

OMGosh...These were absolutely fab!!! I've made three of your dishes this week -- Thai Coconut Shrimp, Vietnamese Shaking Beef (Bo Luc Lac) and now this. My husband says I'm three for three. I plan to make chicken tomorrow and he insists I try another one of your recipes. Thanks so much for healthy food that tastes delish!